Earlier this month, before launching into some studio-scale projects, I decided to try and do something simple. Something relatively out of the box. I had hoped to get it done in time for OrangeCon here in Los Angeles, but scheduling conspired against me.

I picked up my first kit when it was initially released. I was impressed with the single piece hull, the detail on the shingles, and the overall size. In doing to some research, I discovered that there were a lot of smaller details missing. No problem, because I actually like scratchbuilding. Long story short - I'm still in the process of superdetailing the interior with all the wiring harnesses and the like.

This kit was not going to be that. This build was going to be an out of the box, glue the hatch shut, and live with it as-is.

But I can't leave well enough alone, as you will see.

Interior -
Even with the hatch shut, you can still see a portion of the interior. Especially if you add a couple of LED's to illuminate the area. And since you will actually be able to see some details, you may as well add some details to be seen (see where this is going?)

The wiring harnesses are just that - thin wire-wrap wire bundles together. The wires ties are white tape. There was a mass of wiring in the real capsules (ahhh, the analog days) and would be very prominent.

The other plastic parts are from one of the old ESCI/AMT/ERTL 1/12th scale cockpit kits - both the F-16 and the F-104. I used those kits on the other detailed build and had some parts left over.

Luckily, all this detailing didn't take much more than an evening to get in place. And you can see some of it through the window -

For good measure, I added some Evergreen channel stock and T-rail to the inside area of the hatch and found a couple of extra lever-looking parts in the scrap pile -

Parachute compartment -
I also threw some wiring in the parachute compartment in case I decided to model it in post-splashdown mode -

The one thing that is fairly prominent when looking through the window is the seat. What's in the kit is just a basic shell. I added some leg restraints as well as some padding. I also glued down some of the tubing that would connect to the astronaut (if I were to use him) -

Getting ready to paint -
Here's were it starts getting tricky. I really wanted to make this a simple build. I didn't want to have to lug out the airbrush for this thing till I was applying the dullcoat after the decals were down. I really wanted to use the Tamiya Spray Paints wherever possible, since they go down really nice, dry quick, and are resistant to oil washes (unlike Testors Enamels).

In real life, darn near everything in the Mercury capsule is a light gray. Some components are silver, but it is remarkably drab (save for the instrument panel which is oddly colorful). Since I wanted to jazz it up a bit, I had to broaden the color palette somewhat.

Unfortunately, all the detail I added made it more difficult to mask. And I really wanted to just use spray cans wherever possible. Turns out Silly Putty was my hero. I had heard that Silly Putty could be used as a masking agent - in fact some people use it for getting a soft edge on camo patterns. As it tuns out, the stuff won't melt when you spray it with the Tamiya Lacquer stuff. And it really doesn't stick to paint either. So, after the basecoat of Light gray was down and dried, I started applying blobs of Silly Putty (as well as some tape) to the interior part -

I had to poke the stuff with a toothpick to get it under some of the wires and around the details, but I found the stuff pretty easy to work with.

Once it was all masked, I sprayed Flat Black. After that was dry, I added some putty to cover the black parts, so I could spray down some silver -

It's not perfect. There were areas of overspray that I had to go and touch up with a brush. But overall, I was satisfied with the results and will re-use the technique. (I can see it coming in handy when needing to mask off a deep area, like a landing gear wheel well.)

Not really! Actually, for getting into areas with undercuts, it's fine. It has just enough tensile grip to stick to the plastic. But if you are trying to mask a flat area, or if you want a sharp line, you have to use a good tape.

OK, not really a big update since my time has been limited. But, before I got sidetracked with the BSG event, I managed to get the interior painted, weathered, and installed.

Again, I have to remind you that I really detoured from what an actual Mercury Capsule interior looks like -
"Real" capsules seem to be almost uniform in their grayness (whatever shade of gray it is). I decided to mix it up by painting some of the faces of the electronic components black.

The green of the Oxygen bottle adds a little bit of color. It's in the wrong place, but you can see it through the window.

The instrument panel, in contrast to the gray interior, is very colorful -

The instruments were clustered together and color coded to make for quick identification. The panels varied from mission to mission. I just went with a general appearance. The weathering isn't so much to represent an old capsule, but to provide a contrast so the switches and dials pop out from the background. You are seeing far more here than anyone ever will looking through that darn window.
You can see the instrument panel clearly through the window, so it behooves you to pay attention to it. If you are gluing the access hatch shut, you will NOT see any of the wiring that goes behind the instrument panel. I also left off the decals. I guess I was just rushing this. Besides, with the light off, you can't see a damn thing. With the lights on, it 's still hard to notice that there isn't anything on the instrument faces. I'd really would have liked to see a series of films that could be backlit made for this kit.

The hatch can barely be seen since it is at such an odd angle. Again, the weathering is intentionally heavy so it will register.

The good news is that once this unit is assembled, it drops right in to place in the capsule.

The instrument panel is the kit part(s). I just painted it. Rick Sternbach did the decal art and included the instrument faces, but I screwed up and painted the faces on the kit part gloss black instead of gloss white (the "lines" on the decals are clear, not white). Since I was in an (artificial) rush to finish, I just left them off.

On the back wall, the "black boxes" are add-ons. Parts from the 1/12 F-104 or F-16 Cockpit models from ESCI.